So, I eat chicken liver around once or twice a week. I know it has a ton of nutrients but i have heard it is bad for ones health because of possible toxins and stuff. Do the benefits of eating liver out weigh the risks or are the risks overrated?

Not certain what all nutrients it's high in, but I know liver is VERY high in vitamin A. Eating liver isn't dangerous; eating too much liver is. This is because vitamin A is fat soluable and consuming too much is toxic. I've read one should eat liver no more frequently than once a week... Just do some googling.

Lorenzo the Magnificent wrote:Try to find some stuff on Australian explorer Douglas Mawson and his ill-fated mapping trip in Antarctica. His story is fascinating. He ate dog liver, and the results were disastrous.

Livers of predators are generally not safe, herbivores are fine as long as not eaten to great excess. Polar bear liver is known to be poisonous to humans in relatively small quantities (~10 grams), Eskimo would bury the livers when on a Polar bear hunt to stop their dogs from eating it.

yuck

RE: Is eating liver bad for you?7/18/2009 2:46PM - in reply to Runningart2004

True. However the toxins are stored in the fatty part of the liver. You will eat some of the toxins if you eat liver, and they are not good for you.

It is also true that liver has a ton of nutrients good for athletes. If you want to consume liver for the nutrients then I suggest you buy dessicated, defatted liver pills from Argentina. It is not that hard to find, most nutritional stores carry it. Argentina does not use hormones, antibiotics etc in their cattle so that junk does not end up in the liver.